July 29, 2019

Between Oedipus and the Sphinx: Freud and Egypt

This new exhibition explores Freud’s enduring fascination with Egypt evident both in his writings and in his collection of antiquities.

A painting of Oedipus’ encounter with the Sphinx famously hung beside Freud’s couch. Nobody doubts the significance of Oedipus to the development of Freud’s thought but the presence of the Sphinx reminds us of his less celebrated interest in Egyptian culture. Egyptian artefacts form the largest part of Freud’s collection and lie behind his ‘archaeological metaphor’ – one of his most productive methods for exploring the psyche and developing the practice of psychoanalysis.

The Destruction Of Humanity

We are fortunate to have many surviving pieces of Egyptian literature and religious writings, allowing us to translate, read, and share stories that were originally composed in the ancient past. We have previously looked at the story of Osiris and Isis, one of the most famous tales from ancient Egypt. Today, we’re going to be looking at a very different tale, however – one known amongst Egyptologists by the rather unusual name, “the Myth of the Heavenly Cow”.

Book Review: An Enlightening Look Into The Birth Of Egyptology

Alessandro Ricci’s travels to Egypt and Sudan took place a few years before the birth of Egyptology in 1822, the year Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs. His work, a detailed account of his journeys enriched with beautiful drawings of ancient monuments, was never published in his lifetime. Ricci is little known today yet his contemporaries, including Champollion, unanimously acknowledged the artistic qualities of his work, essentially epigraphic copies of reliefs, temple decorations and inscriptions.

KV 11 Revisited
Two of the ships depicted in Room Bb of the tomb. Frontispiece of the 1978 edition of Wilkinson’s The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II.

The tomb of Ramesses III (KV 11) is one of the most renowned places in the Valley of the Kings, but also one of the most threatened by progressive decay. After several floods, between 1885 and 1914, a major part of the wall decoration was lost forever. Although it has been one of the most frequently visited tombs since antiquity, it still remains unpublished. Nevertheless, it is possible to reconstruct a substantial part of the decoration from the notes, drawings and squeezes produced by early travellers and researchers. “KV 11 revisited” is part of The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication and Conservation Project.

Egyptology (video)

From Cairo to Luxor, Egyptologists are working alongside physicists and engineers to try to solve the secrets of the pharaohs. Using non-invasive exploration techniques which won’t damage the monuments, teams of researchers began scanning Egypt’s pyramids in October 2015.

The Tomb of Menna (TT69)
Photos © Chris Marriott 

The tomb of Menna (Theban Tomb 69, or TT69), is one of the most beautiful of the “Tombs of the Nobles” on the West Bank at Luxor, but is not a part of the regular “tourist trail”, meaning that you’ll almost certainly be able to visit it in peace and quiet.

Note: I love the tickets to sites in Egypt, shown to the left here. Every time I go, I bring home a collection. 

Egyptian Scarabs Discovered in Ancient Shiloh

A rare Egyptian scarab seal, possibly belonging to a senior Egyptian official, was found at the Tel Shiloh archaeological site in Samaria. Archaeologists estimate it is 3,000 years old.

The scarabs were carved in the shape of a dung beetle, a creature of cosmological significance in ancient Egypt. Numerous scarabs have been found in archaeological excavations in Israel.

Ancient Egypt: Underwater Archaeologists Uncover Destroyed Temple in the Sunken City Of Heracleion

Note: Includes a great video.

Marine archaeologists probing sunken ancient Egyptian settlements have discovered the remains of a temple and several boats containing treasures like coins and jewelry.

Egyptian and European researchers spent two months probing the remains of Heracleion and Canopus off the coast of the Nile Delta, Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities reported. They used a sophisticated scanning device to uncover new parts of the ancient settlements.

Archaeological Mission Concludes Work in Alexandria Sunken Greek Cities

The Egyptian-European Archaeological Mission of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology concluded its archaeological season at the ruins of the ancient Greek cities Heraklieon and East Canopus in Abi Qir Bay, Alexandria. The mission had been operating for almost two months.

Ehab Fahmy, head of the Central Department of Sunken Antiquities, said that the mission used the latest scanning devices to capture images of archaeological remains buried beneath the seabed.

If you want to see the photos I took of the exhibition based on the exploration of this site, see Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds.

How 20th-Century Colonial Politics Shaped the Story of Tutankhamun's Tomb
One of the guardian statues from the tomb of Tutankhamun on display in the Egyptian Musuem, Cairo, in the 1930s. Library of Congress.

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was never photographed. This will come as a surprise to archaeology enthusiasts familiar with photographs like the one  often identified as Howard Carter caught in the moment of opening the tomb in November 1922.

In fact, the photo dates to early January 1924, the second winter Carter and his colleagues spent working in the jam-packed tomb. We might imagine that Howard Carter is kneeling to look in awe at the face of Tutankhamun, or at least something suitably gold and glorious. In fact, Carter was looking at the still-closed doors of another shrine inside and he was dazzled, not by gold, but by (as he put it) the “mystic mauve” glow of photographic reflectors just out of shot. Held by unnamed Egyptian co-workers, those reflectors were required by the tomb’s official photographer, Harry Burton, to bounce electric lamplight around the cramped, dark space and yield the desired effects of light and shadow.

One-way Tickets to the Netherworld: Mummy Labels and Inscribed Mummy Shrouds
Left: UC 39590. Right: UC 34471 (c) Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

On 26th April of the 24th year of reign of an unspecified Roman emperor (probably Commodus, which equals the year 184 AD), a modest Egyptian priest named Bes, son of his namesake and a lady called Tadinebhau, died in Pernebwadj, a provincial town in Middle Egypt—then a remote region within the vastness of the Roman empire. We know almost the precise address in Pernebwadj at which Bes had resided during his lifetime, within the town’s ‘tenth quarter’. Such detailed information stems from neither an inscription on Bes’ tomb walls nor a papyrus, but from a much more unassuming object: his mummy label (UC 45626).

Oh, Hollywood!

Unpublished backstage photographs from The Ten Commandments by Cecil De Mille in 1956 in the area of Deir El Bahari.

Tech Wizardry Solves Mysteries Of Egypt's Royal Mummies
Seti I Sahar Saleem

ROUGHLY 400 MILES from the Great Pyramids, ancient pharaohs of the New Kingdom lay at rest in the Valley of Kings. Nondescript chambers built into the valley's dusty hills hold royal remains, buried between 1550 and 1070 BC. The crypts were designed to deter robbers, and for the most part, they worked—which makes it difficult for today’s archaeologists to find them and identify their inhabitants.

But new techniques are giving researchers a better look into the tombs.

July 22, 2019

“Akhenaten: A Historian’s View,” (American University of Cairo Press)

It’s one of history’s great ironies: the successors of Pharaoh Akhenaten sought to obliterate all traces of his reign and yet, more has been written on Akhenaten than on any other ancient Egyptian. University of Melbourne history professor Ronald T. Ridley’s study of Akhenaten sounds a cautionary note (a whole concert?) against anyone making claims on the distant past. He recounts dozens of conflicting theories on the ruler (supposedly the world’s first monotheist) and dispenses with most of them.

Five Ancient History-Changing Papyri Discovered in Egypt
Shutterstock

Thousands of years ago, people around the world sought out the way they could express themselves. Some did it by carving intricate glyphs on stones; others did it writing on the arid landscape like Nazca. But Egypt had papyri plants.

Papyri are believed to have been used in ancient Egypt as far back as the Frist Dynasty, when the first series of Egyptian Kings ruled over unified Egypt, around 3,100 BC, when the First Pharaoh, Narmer, ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt, marking the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period.

When is Agatha Christie drama Death Comes as the End on TV?
The BBC has enlisted Gwyneth Hughes to adapt Agatha Christie's 1944 novel set in Ancient Egypt

Expected to be another three-part drama, the series is based on the 1944 novel by Agatha Christie which is – according to the BBC – “a groundbreaking murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt.”

The story is set in Thebes in Ancient Egypt in 2000 BC, and features entirely non-European characters. Death Comes as the End is actually Christie’s only novel not set during the 20th century, and one of four Christie novels which have never been seen on-screen before. It has also been credited as the first-ever historical whodunnit.

Egypt to Restore Tutankhamun's Golden-Plated Coffin
A handout photo made available by Egyptian Ministry Of Antiquities shows the gilded coffin of King Tutankhamun about to undergo its restoration process at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo. EPA

Experts have begun restoration work on the golden-plated coffin of Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun for the first time since the discovery of the tomb in 1922, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said on Wednesday.

The coffin and the treasured collection of Tutankhamun's tomb are expected to be the centrepiece of the new Grand Egyptian Museum that Egypt will open next year near the Pyramids of Giza.

British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the 18th dynasty king in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1922. The tomb was untouched and included about 5,000 artefacts.

Why Ancient Egypt Took Over Union Station — and Kansas City — in 1924

Nearly 80 years before the Henry Wollman Bloch Fountain graced Union Station, an elaborate celebration adorned the city — and the station — with touches of Ancient Egypt.

But why? That’s what Bill Johnson asked “What’s Your KCQ?” — a series in which we partner with the Kansas City Public Library to answer reader questions.

Johnson wrote: “Photos from a late 1920s parade showed some Egyptian looking [objects] in front of Union Station where the fountain is now. What were those?”

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Rosetta Stone

You've probably heard of the Rosetta Stone. It's one of the most famous objects in the British Museum, but what actually is it? Take a closer look...

The Stone is a broken part of a bigger stone slab. It has a message carved into it, written in three types of writing (called scripts). It was an important clue that helped experts learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs (a writing system that used pictures as signs).

Opera Aida at Hatshepsut Temple Oct. 26-28

In an attempt to promote tourism in that historical city, Luxor will organise “Opera Aida” show in the famed Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut on October 26,28.

Luxor launched marketing campaign for this show in a number of European and Asian countries.

In Photos - Egypt: New museums to Open in Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada

The Ministry of Antiquities has ambitious plans to establish and renovate a number of museums in different governorates this year in order to promote tourism in Egypt, writes Nevine El-Aref.

Among the most important museums that will be completed and opened soon in Egypt are the Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada museums, considered to be the first museums to be run in partnership with the private sector.

Egypt Opens 2 of Its Oldest Pyramids for First Time Since 1960s
MAYA ALLERUZZO / AP

Egypt on Saturday opened two of its oldest pyramids, located about 25 miles south of the capital Cairo, to visitors for the first time since 1965. Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told reporters that tourists were now allowed to visit the Bent Pyramid and its satellite pyramid in the Dahshur royal necropolis, which is part of the Memphis Necropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Egyptian Museum First Floor Walking Tour

The Struggle is Real

July 15, 2019

Ancient Pharaonic Harp Strums Along to New Tune
AFP Photo

When Mohamed Ghaly's workshop was reduced to rubble in February, he could never imagine that a new cultural centre dedicated to an instrument with Pharaonic roots would thrive just months later.

The semsemia, similar to a harp and made of beechwood with steel strings, is believed to have ancient Egyptian roots. It appears on ornate engravings on tombs.

Ghaly, a carpenter by trade, is one of the last craftsmen in Egypt keeping the cultural heritage of the instrument alive.

Will This Be the End of the Legendary Egyptian Museum?
Wikimedia

With its most famed objects going to a fancy new site, this most iconic of museums is approaching a crossroads, and some worry Egypt isn’t facing up to the very real challenges.

...The majestic Egyptian Museum sends out its siren song, a neoclassical vision in salmon pink that seems at odds with the madness that envelops it. This stately old dame has been attracting visitors since 1902, all of them enticed by its collection of treasures, from the sparkly equipage of pharaohs and their chilling mummified remains to ancient stoneware and everyday items used by the masses.

Smellscapes in Ancient Egypt

Smells are everywhere and humans have always been conscious of them, but ancient Egyptians were among the first to document and judge smells.

What are smellscapes?

The word smellscape refers to all the smells found in a given area. Many smellscapes together form a smellmap. The modern method of smellmapping starts with smellwalking – walking around in the city and recording the smells one encounters. Since odors cannot be recorded digitally, the notes can be either in writing or by recording one’s voice.

Secret Chamber Found Inside King Tut's Famous Tomb May Solve Hunt for Nefertiti
The bust of Nefertiti from the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin collection, presently in the Neues Museum.
Egyptologists are on the verge of solving one of history's biggest mysteries — the location of Queen Nefertiti's elusive tomb.

Tantalising radar shadows have revived hopes that one of history's most beautiful, and controversial, women — Queen Nefertiti — may indeed be buried in secret chambers within King Tut's famous tomb.

British and Egyptian Egyptologists earlier this week conducted a three-day radar scan of the world-famous tomb discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

Egypt's Great Pyramid Was Originally White and Not Golden Yellow as a New Documentary Shows

Pick up any postcard of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, and you'll be greeted with an image of a sandy monument that's sometimes even depicted in gold.

However, the true appearance of the oldest and largest of the trio of pyramids in the area was nowhere as warmly-hued when it was built in 2600 B.C.

It was actually pure white, as revealed by historian Bettany Hughes in her new documentary, " The Nile: Egypt's Greatest River."

3,400-Year-Old Sarcophagus of Tutankhamun’s Grandmother Opened – ‘Magnificent!’
Image: CHANNEL 4
AN EGYPTIAN historian was left stunned after the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun’s grandmother was opened for the first time in years.

Thuya was an Egyptian noblewoman of the Eightieth Dynasty who was the mother of queen Tuye and the wife of Tuya. She is best known for being the grandmother of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, two great pharaohs of the same era. Together with her husband, Thuya was buried in the Valley of the Kings in the famous tomb KV46, until she was found in 1905.

The Latest Discoveries in Egyptology (May-June 2019)
Photo: CNN

Every two months, the Nile Scribes bring you summaries of the latest news and discoveries in Egyptology, both from the field and the library. They introduce you to the newest archaeological finds or rediscovered artefacts from museum collections, plus other new theories stirring in the Egyptological Zeitgeist.

The beginning of summer has revealed a wide array of new finds including brightly-decorated coffins, parts of an older church hiding under a basilica, and a large amount of rock art near Aswan.

This Nile Shipwreck Is First Evidence That Herodotus Wasn't Lying About Egyptian Boats
From the Deir el-Gebrâwi reliefs, c.2325-2155 BCE. (Davies, N. de G., 1901-1902)

A sunken ship found in the Nile river may have lain undisturbed for over 2,500 years, but now it is finally ponying up its secrets. Scientists think that this ship has revealed a structure whose existence has been debated for centuries.

In fragment 2.96 of Herodotus' Histories, published around 450 BCE, the Ancient Greek historian - who was writing about his trip to Egypt - describes a type of Nile cargo boat called a baris.

According to his portrayal, it was constructed like brickwork, lined with papyrus, and with a rudder that passed through a hole in the keel.

Little-Known Entrance on Great Sphinx's Back May Lead to Pharaoh's Burial Chamber
Pic: YOUTUBE/ANCIENT ARCHITECTS

The Giza plateau in Cairo, Egypt, has fascinated experts and the public alike for decades.

Questions on who built the pyramids and why, as well as what is hidden beneath the Sphinx have never been fully answered.

Matthew Sibson, an ancient history and civilisations expert, believes there are still many secrets to uncover and in his most recent video, he explores a little-known opening at the back of the Sphinx which may lead to a Pharaoh's ancient burial chamber below.

Ancient Egyptian Mummy Hair Unearthed with Curls Preserved After 3,000 Years
Image: Kurchatov Institute/east2west ne

Ancient Egyptian mummies' locks were found in perfectly preserved condition despite being over 3000 years old, in a shocking new discovery.

Russian scientists unraveled the mystery behind Ancient Egypt's hair fashion, leaving mummies with immaculate curls lasting thousands of years.









The Tomb of Nefertari

3D-reconstruction of architectural, cultural and art monument of Ancient Egypt.

If you haven't visited this amazing tomb, this site is the next best thing. One of the videos shows the delights in store for you.

July 8 2019

Egyptian Views of the Afterlife

It’s fair to say that we know far more about Egyptian views of the afterlife than we do about the everyday lives of the living. In life, most people lived in mud-brick houses and had few possessions that survived to be found by Egyptologists. Well-to-do people, though, were buried in rock-cut tombs, often with a large array of grave goods, and paintings and inscriptions on the walls which give us a very good idea indeed of how they wanted to spend eternity.

Pulling Early Kingship Together
Normal sized example of a mace head (7 cm tall) from Hierakonpolis (UC14944). These weapons were attached to a handle and many were possibly just a symbol of status.

In 1898, shortly before Flinders Petrie discovered the tombs of the first pharaohs at Abydos, James Quibell (1867–1935) and Frederick Green (1869–1949) were working at the site of Hierakonpolis, south of modern Luxor. They found the spectacular palette of Narmer. The palette is the earliest monumental representation of a pharaoh and, for many today, it embodies the origins of Egyptian civilization. Yet the more the Narmer palette was vested with symbolic value by Egyptologists, the further it was dissociated from its archaeological context.

Ancient Egypt's Oldest Pyramid Has Enormous Moat to Guide Dead Pharaoh to The Afterlife, Researcher Claims
A rock-cut chapel in Djoser pyramid. J. DABROWSKI/PCMA

A huge trench around ancient Egypt's oldest step pyramid may have served as a 3D model of the pharaoh's way to the afterlife, an expert has claimed.

Kamil O. Kuraszkiewicz, an Egyptologist from the University of Warsaw, Poland, has been leading an excavation at the Pyramid of Djoser, which was built between 2667 and 2648 B.C., during the rule of the third dynasty pharaoh Djoser.

Note: The video is pretty amazing, too.

New Books in Egyptology (May-June 2019)

Every two months the Nile Scribes update readers on the most recent Egyptological publications. From popular reads to peer-reviewed scholarship, they hope to illustrate the wide variety of topics discussed in Egyptology, and perhaps introduce you to your next read! Thirteen books are scheduled for release this summer (May and June).

Glimpsing into the Black Market for Ancient Artifacts with an Archaeologist
Andrew Nelson is an archaeologist from Western University. He spoke with Afternoon Drive host Chris dela Torre about smuggling artefacts. (Western University, Canada)

It sounds like something out of an Indiana Jones movie....discovering artifacts in the back of a mail truck.

But it was very much a reality whenever U.S. customs and border protection announced they found mummy remains last month while conducting a vehicle examination at Blue Water bridge on the border between Ontario and Michigan.

They found that the Canadian mail truck was transporting five jars of ancient Egyptian mummy linens into the United States.

The Ancient Egyptian Religion Making a Comeback in the Modern World
Kemetic house shrine of Thot

Ancient Egypt exercises a powerful hold over modern imaginations, conjuring images of gilded pharaohs, towering pyramids, and stunning hieroglyphics.

Historians and archaeologists have, over the past two centuries, unearthed countless lost treasures from beneath the Egyptian sands, and we now know much more than we did about this elusive and fascinating civilization.

Builders Of Egypt Trailer

The latest trailer of the game "Builders of Egypt", in which you play the role of the governor of the Egyptian city. Builders Of Egypt is a city-building economic strategy game taking place in the Nile Valley. Immerse yourself in a world full of pyramids, where you will become a part of the ancient world. Create history, be history!

Picture of the Week

July 1, 2019

Egyptian 4,000-year-old Pyramid Opened to Visitors

Photo taken on June 28, 2019 shows relics unearthed from a tomb dating back to the Middle Kingdom era which is some 500 meters from the pyramid of Senusret II, the Pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty, in Faiyum, Egypt. Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anany inaugurated on Friday the pyramid of Senusret II, the Pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty, marking its opening to visitors for the first time. Known as el-Lahun Pyramid, the royal cemetery dates back to the period between 1897 BC to 1878 BC and is located in Faiyum Governorate, 100 km southwest of the capital Cairo. (Xinhua/Li Yan)

Secrets of Hatshepsut’s Tomb 

An archaeologist reveals evidence hinting at Queen Hatshepsut's alleged affair with a local 3,500 years on in The Nile: Egypt's Great River With Bettany Hughes.

In the Channel 5 documentary, the presenter is taken to a part of the Egyptian pharaoh's temple that's usually off limits.

There, hidden wall carvings offer an intimate insight into the remarkable woman's life and hint at an illicit affair with courtier, Senenmut.

'He seems to be present everywhere,' says Bettany, as she explores the tomb. 'This is Senenmut – not a member of the royal family and yet beautifully depicted all over the Queen of Egypt's temple.'

An Ancient City’s Demise Hints at a Hidden Risk of Sea-Level Rise
ALADIN ABDEL NABY / REUTERS

Sometime in the third century b.c., an earthquake struck the eastern Mediterranean. In Thonis-Heracleion, past its peak but still one of Egypt’s greatest ports, the ground began to shake, and the soil gave way. The city had been built upon low-lying islets, bits of silt and clay left behind from the Nile’s summer floods. Temples would have towered over the city, where each year, priests would form the earthly body of Osiris—the god of the afterlife and rebirth—from gold, barley grain, and river water.

DNA from Mummy's Tomb Reveals Ancient Egyptian Origins of Watermelon
Courtesy of Renner, Perez-Escobar,Silber,Nesbitt,Preick,Hofreiter,Chomicki

Did ancient Egyptian children compete to see who could spit seeds the furthest as they ate watermelons? It seems likely, because thanks to some DNA detective work we now know for sure that the ancient Egyptians ate domesticated watermelons with sweet, red flesh.

Adventures of a Space Archaeologist
A satellite image revealed the houses and streets of Tanis, the capital of ancient Egypt from 1070 to 712 BC.Credit: DigitalGlobe/Maxar via Getty
The ancient city of Tanis was Egypt’s capital for more than 350 years before the centre of power shifted, and the city was eventually lost under centuries of silt. In 1939, archaeologists working there uncovered temples and tombs containing treasures to rival Tutankhamun’s. But Tanis was largely forgotten amid the horrors of the Second World War, until a fictional version featured in Steven Spielberg’s 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. In one scene, archaeologist Indiana Jones sneaks into a map room in which the entire city is laid out, and discovers that the Nazis seeking the titular ark are digging in the wrong place.

In 2010, space archaeologist Sarah Parcak had her own map-room moment at Tanis.

CBP officers seize ancient Egyptian mummy linen at northern border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Michigan seized five jars of ancient Egyptian mummy linen coming illegally through the northern border last month.

Inspection of a shipment on a Canadian mail truck in Marysville, Michigan on May 25 revealed the illegal antiquities believed to be from between 305 to 30 BCE, CBP said in a news release.

The Best Comics of 2019 So Far

An ancient alligator god. A living building. A doomed architect. The subjects of the best comics released in 2019 so far are an eclectic mix, and these stories highlight the stylistic range of the medium with drastically different visual and narrative perspectives. From poignant graphic memoirs to sensational genre tales, these comic-book series and graphic novels find exciting ways to explore the dynamic between images and text. Whether they are spotlighting forgotten sports stars, pitting assassins against each other, or recounting the pain of adolescent heartbreak, these creators take readers on engrossing journeys with their remarkable craft and passionate artistic visions.

Scroll to near the bottom of the article to read the review of Sobek.

To buy your own copy and see more graphics, click here.

The Real-Life Downton Abbey's Earl Funded The Discovery Of King Tut's Tomb

Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, is now famous as the shooting location for Downton Abbey, but one of the estate's real-life lords funded the search for Tutankhamen's tomb. George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earrl of Carnarvon, was born on June 26, 1866 and inherited the title and the estate in 1890.

If you found this article intriguing, you might want to check out Highclere's Egyptian Exhibition page.

Egypt Unveils Tomb Still Bursting with Color after 4,300 Years
Photo Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP 

Necropolis filled with ornate paintings discovered south of Cairo thought to have belonged to a Fifth Dynasty nobleman.

In a major archaeological discovery, Egypt on Saturday unveiled the tomb of a Fifth Dynasty official adorned with colorful reliefs and well preserved inscriptions.

The tomb, near Saqqara, a vast necropolis south of Cairo, belongs to a senior official named Khuwy who is believed to have been a nobleman during the Fifth Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt about 4,300 years ago.

How ‘remarkable’ Red Sea find revealed ‘without a doubt’ who built Great Pyramid

The Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Built over a period of roughly 20 years, this colossal structure was sanctioned under the ruler of the fourth dynasty – Khufu – who many believe was buried in a tomb inside. Over the years, archaeologists and historians have argued about how a civilisation that existed around 2600BC managed to transport more than two million casing stones needed for the pyramid.

Sisi orders parade for royal mummies transferred to NMEC

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered to stage an international parade for the royal mummies to be transferred from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir square, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, said Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi on Sunday.

The Egyptian Museum hosts 150 mummies for acclaimed ancient Egyptian kings like Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose II, Ramses I, Ramses II, and Ramses III.

Only 22 mummies (18 for royal kings and 4 for royal queens) and 17 sarcophagi - dating back to dynasties 17, 18,19, and 20 - will be transported to the NMEC, Head of the Egyptian Museum Sabah Abdel-Razeq told media on June 21.

Cool Egyptian Modern Art

Thanks to Jennifer Della Zanna and Symantha Reagor

Moving a Sphinx (video)